WEB 2.
0 PROMOTION STRATEGIES IN HOSPITALITY
BERISLAV ANDRLIC
POLYTECHNIC OF POZEGA, CROATIA
Abstract
Changing economic conditions,
new forms of consumer behaviour,
and especially new technologies is
likely to cause the emergence of
new or growth of existing
hospitality market. In developed
economies all the more attention is
attached to the study of the role of
new technologies in the field of
hospitality.
It is necessary to point out that
technological progress is a key
factor of modern hospitality. Web
2.0 technology has changed
fundamentally the very nature of e-
marketing in hospitality. General
characteristics of Web 2.0
promotion tools are openness,
freedom and collective intelligence.
Most European hotels on the
market have started developing e-
promotion strategies for the web.
As a result, e-marketing is growing
at a dramatic pace and is
significantly impacting on tourists.
Following the above assumptions
paper will analyze the available
data on primary level of marketing
opportunities using the technology
in hotel business in Croatia, using
scientific methods of web quality
evaluation, analysis and synthesis,
comparison and compilation. As a
result, there is a need for the
introduction of new web 2.0
promotion strategies in order to
increase the competitive
advantage of hotels. Also, paper
presents future directions and
suggestions which could develop
e-promotion strategies in
hospitality, especially using Web
2.0 technologies.
Introduction
Modern Internet technology has
changed fundamentally the very
nature of marketing, and especially,
promotion in hospitality. Traditional
promotion activities are being
modified into their electronic
equivalents which gives rise to
entirely new and particular form of
e-promotion in hospitality. (Law et
al., 2004).
The rapid evolution of the Internet
and the World Wide Web in the
1990s as a means for the global
sharing of information has opened
up a whole range of new
techniques in promotion practice.
The Internet serves as a new
promotion channel for e-travellers
and suppliers of hospitality
products and services
Promotion in hospitality in the very
complex environment becomes
increasingly difficult without
effective media considerations, and
planning strategies. It is important
to say that technological progress
and its applications are key factors
in creating competitive advantage
in the modern hotel business.
Internet, as the most significant
technological phenomenon today,
provides the hospitality subjects a
completely new competitive
promotion opportunities, which
makes the main idea of this paper.
 product to present the final
Promotion and Web 2.0 consumer. Promotion involves
terminology disseminating information about a
hospitality product, hospitality
Given that the hospitality subject is product line, hospitality brand, or
the infrastructural base of tourism hospitality company.
and travel in a broader sense, it is
therefore e-promotion the E-promotion is a cross-functional
hospitality market seen in the process for planning, execution and
context of these phenomena. analysis of communication focused
on attracting, maintaining and
The techniques of modern media multiplication of the number of
communications have resulted in clients on the Internet. Using
accelerated obsolescence of innovative technologies, e-
traditional forms of mass operators in the tourist hotels and
communication. It develops the restaurants can improve efficiency
concept of e-promotion, as an and effectiveness of traditional
integrated marketing communication mix.
communications in which new
communication technologies The term Web 2.0 is associated
enable hospitality managers to with web applications that facilitate
avoid problems caused by distance interactive systemic biases,
from the guests, long distribution interoperability, user-centered
chains, the internationalization of design, and developing the World
markets and concentrating on one- Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows
way form of marketing users to interact and collaborate
communication such as with each other in a social media
advertising. New technologies dialogue as consumers of user-
enable hospitality managers to generated content in a virtual
connect directly with guests by community, in contrast to websites
creating an interaction and where users (prosumers) are
relationships with them. Interactive limited to the active viewing of
media allows marketers to content that they created and
establish a dialogue with guests, controlled. Web 2.0 is about
unlike traditional media which revolutionary new ways of creating,
support only one-way collaborating, editing and sharing
communication from the unfocused user-generated content online.
and entities by the end consumer. (Wikipedia, 2010).

In considerations of e-marketing Characteristics and trends of

scene at this time, it is possible to hospitality product promotion
distinguish the following terms: e-
promotion and Web 2.0. Tourism products and services are
perfectly suited to online selling
Promotion as one of the elements because they possess the
of marketing mix in hospitality has necessary characteristics that can
an important place. Because of function in the electronic
intangibility and secluded place of environment. three main
purchase and consumption, it is characteristics of products and
necessary to composite hospitality services are likely to influence
Internet usage for both information
searching and making online
purchases. These are: cost and
frequency of purchase; value
proposition; and degree
differentiation. (Peterson et al.,
1997). Tourism products engage a
higher level of involvement,
intangibility and higher level of
differentiation than other tangible
consumer goods and, therefore,
are more easily sold through the
Web. The development
electronic communication
significant for tourism marketers
who sell a perishable, intangible,
heterogeneous and high-risk
product. The ease of description
and commodity-like nature of many
travel products (i.e. airline seats or
hotel rooms) also favour the
development of electronic
commerce (Lewis & Semeijn,
1998).
In context of e-promotion in
hospitality, eMarketer, a leading
provider of online market research,
claims confidencein projections of
continued growth in e-promotion,
citing several reasons for its
optimism: (eMarketer, 2007):
• Even if the economy slows down,
continued growth in the online
audience and the need for
advertising to follow that audience
will drive an ongoingshift away from
other media, most notably
newspapers and radio;
• The opportunities for better
targeting and more accurate
tracking offered byonline
advertising relative to other media
makes spending on the Internet
even more appealing in a soft
economy;
• As online video advertising
becomes morewidely used, large
brand marketers who have up to
now only dipped their toes online
will devote increasingly greater
budget shares to the Internet.
of
Conclusion
in The increase in Internet use result that
marks become more important then they were in
is other medium channels and environments. Creation
of mark strategy on Internet represents one
extraordinary significant area of research. Mark
represents very complex notion, and challenge for
its creation is connected with multitude of opinions
and association being placed in the consciousness of
the customer. Taking into consideration the
organizational aspect, it can be concluded that
creation of the mark on internet is distinguished by
the following: globalization, need for integration of
diverse communication channels, increase of
interconnection with public sector, etc.
The firms increasingly recognize values
and significance of using of their marks in creation
of long term relations with their customers. The
reason is very clear.
With growth of number of competitive
firms and their products, marks are
becoming significant means in creation
of diversity, attachment and relevancy.
These considerations propose to focus
speculations in marketing planning on
Internet and creation of product brand
equity as the main competitive feature.
preraditi
References
Law, R., Leung, K. & Wong, J.
(2004). The impact of the Internet
on travel agencies, International
Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Vol. 16,
No.2, pp .100-107. ISSN
09596119
Lewis, I. & Semeijn, J. (1998). The
impact of information technology on
travel agents, Transportation
Journal, Vol. 37 No.4, pp.20-26.

Peterson, R.A., Balasubramanian,

S. & Bronnenberg, B.J. (1997).
Exploring the implications of the
Internet for consumer marketing,
Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, Vol. 24,
pp.329-346.

eMarketer, ‘‘Online Advertising

Spending Growth to Level Off,’’
February26,2007,
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.a
spx?
id=1004600&src=article1_newsltr

Wikipedia, “Web 2.0 definition”,

December18,2010,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.
0